Chapter 72: Warmth is Always Fleeting
"You little brat, it's been eight years and you've grown quite the attitude, haven't you? Is it your rebellious phase?!"
As soon as Naruto entered the Seal space where Uzumaki Kushina's consciousness was sealed, he was met with strands of blood-red hair standing on end and fluttering in the wind. That tyrannical and terrifying Aura gave Naruto his first impression of his mother.
His mother's temper wasn't very good; she was very explosive, but also very cute...
"No... I really didn't... how could that possibly happen!"
Naruto backed away two steps with an awkward face, while vigorously waving his hands in denial. This feeling of being both happy and fearful made Naruto feel very strange deep down. Having a mother with this kind of personality seemed quite nice!
"I heard you got a girlfriend?"
Uzumaki Kushina clenched her fists and pressed closer step by step. The cracking sound of her knuckles caused cold sweat to stream down Naruto's forehead. Was he really going to be lectured the first time he met his mother?!
Just as Naruto was awkwardly laughing and backing up until he had nowhere left to go, Uzumaki Kushina suddenly retracted her Aura. Her explosive expression vanished, replaced by the most primal love of a mother.
"Although you've broken the most serious of the Three Shinobi Prohibitions... I... I just can't bring myself to blame you!"
Kushina smiled tenderly at Naruto. Her residual consciousness approached him, wanting to reach out and stroke his hair, but her hand passed right through him.
"Mother forgot that she's just a wisp of consciousness..." Kushina's eyes held a trace of disappointment, but she quickly hid it. A warm smile surfaced on her lips again. "But it doesn't matter, after all, I got to see you grown up—though you're still not that big!"
"I'm eight years old, Mother..."
Naruto's mature mind still made him feel a bit awkward, but somehow, in front of Uzumaki Kushina, that awkwardness quickly vanished, replaced by a child-like Heart-Nature. His rebuttal even carried a hint of acting like a spoiled child.
"Yes, yes, yes! Eight years old! And you found a girlfriend!" Uzumaki Kushina teased. "Have you held my future daughter-in-law's hand yet?!"
"Not only have I held her hand, I've even hugged her!" Naruto boasted about his "achievements" with a grin, seemingly feeling that this would put his mother's mind at ease. "Her name is Hyuga Hinata."
"A girl from the Hyuga Clan, huh..." Uzumaki Kushina said with a look of sentiment, followed by a face full of pride. "As expected of the child of Minato and me, you even managed to win over a girl from the Hyuga Clan!"
"I didn't 'win her over'," Naruto hastily denied. "Hinata was captivated by my good looks, impressed by my charm, and recognized my strength—that's how we finally got together!"
"Give you an inch and you take a mile!" Uzumaki Kushina laughed and scolded him. "Treat that girl well, and no two-timing! Understand?"
"Understood! Your son understands!"
"So, do you eat well normally?"
"Yes! Three meals a day with plenty of meat and fish!"
"That won't do. You need a mix of meat and vegetables so your nutrition is balanced and your health stays good!"
"I know, Mother. I'll change my menu when I get back!"
"Then..."
Uzumaki Kushina and Naruto went back and forth, chatting about trivial matters of daily life. Naruto, who usually hated being nagged the most, seemed like a different person. Besides answering every question, his patience was top-notch, without a hint of being perfunctory.
Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze watched from the side with a smile. This scene looked exactly like a son who had been away for a long time suddenly returning home, a family of three warmly chatting together.
However, it was already predestined how long this warm scene could last. No matter how beautiful or happy, they had to separate once more...
"Naruto... in the end, I still have to say I'm sorry!" Minato Namikaze held Uzumaki Kushina's soft waist, his warm, sunny smile filled with guilt. "Because of me, you've suffered all these years..."
"It wasn't hard! Not hard at all!" Naruto sensed it was time to part, and tears once again uncontrollably welled up in his eyes. "I'm happy, really happy!"
"Naruto, let Mama nag you one last time. No matter what you've experienced, what you're going to do, or what's really in your heart, Minato and I will never blame you..."
Uzumaki Kushina and Minato Namikaze saw everything about Naruto's current state clearly. They understood his Heart-Nature perfectly, and they had already known about Naruto possessing the Mangekyo Sharingan when the Nine-Tailedwas being controlled.
"It's my..."
"No!" Minato Namikaze interrupted Naruto. "You're grown up now and have your own thoughts. As parents who didn't fulfill our duties, we have no reason and no desire to lecture you."
At that moment, the figures of Minato Namikazeand Uzumaki Kushina began to fade. It was clear that the time for the three of them to part had come again.
"Your mother and I only want to tell you one thing: you must live a happy, joyful, and blessed life. Nothing else matters!"
"One last thing..." Uzumaki Kushina smiled through her tears. "Minato and I... love you very, very much... You're big now, so you must learn to be strong, my child!"
"I will!" Naruto shouted at the two of them. "I will eat well, I won't be a picky eater, I will live happily and joyfully, I will treat Hinata well, I will..."
Watching his parents dissipate into starlight-like specks before his eyes, Naruto's suppressed tears finally burst forth again. His sobbing voice left him speechless for a moment, and only after a long while did he raise his head again.
"I will always love you! Always!"
...
"What did you do to this old man's main body?!"
Naruto, with tears still in his eyes, had just opened them when the Little Nine-Tails—which had been treated as nutrients by the vines and branches—sat on his chest with a stern face. Its fur, now even smoother and glossier than before, made Naruto's eyes instantly light up.
After exiting his internal consciousness space, Naruto personally resealed his turbulent heart. However happy he had been just now, he was just as calm now.
To live a happy, joyful, and blessed life, the mastermind lurking behind Naruto had to be eliminated!
Furthermore, if the debt of his parents' death wasn't repaid, Naruto couldn't truly be happy. Thus, revenge and his parents' wishes were not in direct conflict.
Revenge required power!
"Hashirama cells have remodeled your body?!"
"Hmph! This old man doesn't care for that bit of life energy granted by Hashirama cells. I am immortal and indestructible to begin with!"
"Then do you want to completely possess your main body's consciousness?"
"I... you... I don't know what you're talking about!"
As soon as Naruto finished speaking, the Little Nine-Tails fell into a state of flustered incoherence. Clearly, Naruto's words had not only shocked it but had also peered into the hidden secrets within the Nine-Tailed's secret techniques!
"Little Nine-Tails, I'm asking you one more time! If there were a chance for you to replace your main body, would you be willing!"
"Don't joke around! The main body and I share one consciousness. I am him, and he is me!"
The Little Nine-Tails' fur stood on end, but in Naruto's eyes, this look was merely a cover—a bluff hiding its internal weakness.
"Then can you explain to me why you can't use the Nine-Tailed's Chakra, and why you can't move too far away from my body?"
"I..."
"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. You'd better seize this second chance," Naruto pressured the Little Nine-Tails. "Your main body is currently controlled by these eyes. It has no idea about what we're saying!"
"This old man should have realized it long ago!"
The Little Nine-Tails' eyes lit up, and the light of ambition grew brighter in its beastly pupils. It had long wanted to break free from its main body's control and form an independent personality!
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